Are you ready to take the AvoDerm Challenge? (Giveaway ends 5/26/13)

As most of my regular readers know I have a “mini-zoo” of animals that live in our home. We have five cats, a dog and a pair of Goldfish.

We love our pets dearly and do everything within our power to make sure they have happy and healthy lives. If you follow my blog you’ll recall all the medical issues and vet bills we’ve experienced with our cat Bella who has severe asthma, heart issues and yet undetermined thyroid issues (she needs more blood tests to get a conclusive answer). I’m happy to report that Bella has not had an asthma attack in 3+ weeks thanks to her daily inhaler.

It might seem like our cats get a lot of attention, but that is not the case. Our dog Espn is equally loved and spoiled just like the rest of them. He’s our only dog so he doesn’t feel the need to fight for our attention (he does get a bit jealous of the cats).

We almost didn’t adopt Espn (pronounced Es-pin) because of a comment the worker at the animal shelter made. Espn was one of a litter of puppies. I believe there were 7 puppies in total. Espn was the only white one and the only one with a lot of hair. His brothers and sisters all looked like Jack Russell Terriers (they were not but they looked that way). Espn looked like a rolly polly Panda. He’s black and white and when he was a puppy he was fuzzy.

The shelter worker told us NOT to adopt him because we would have to spend a fortune getting him groomed. We didn’t care and adopted him anyway. And yes, he was right. We do spend a lot getting him groomed. He’s a Rat Terrier/Maltese mix (so we were told). He can be really hairy.

Espn with hair.

Espn shaved

Espn DOES look better (cuter) with some hair on him (not too much), but there is a lot of up keep involved. We get him shaved ever other month. Normally he looks a big goofy the first few weeks after he’s shaved but then about the 3rd or 4th week his hair looks perfect.

If we don’t get him shaved we have to give him baths and brush his coat otherwise it would be a mess.

Espn might not have a long, flowing coat like some dogs do (Irish Setters and Golden Labs have beautiful coats) but it has to be cared for nonetheless.

Did you know that caring for your pet’s coat is not only something you can do from the outside, but from the inside as well? What your dog or cat eats can have an impact on the condition of their coat/fur.

AvoDerm has set up a challenge for pet owners that I think some of my pet loving readers might be interested in participating in. AvoDerm would like you to switch your dog and/or cats food to AvoDerm for six weeks. They guarantee that you’ll see an improvement in their coats as well as softness, shine and healthier skin.

To be honest with you I have never heard of AvoDerm until now.

AvoDerm does have a unique name. I wasn’t sure what it was until I read up on the product. The “Avo” part comes from Avocados (“derm” is short for dermatitis which is the medical name for skin). Avocados are healthy for humans so it makes perfect sense that the can be equally as healthy for pets.

Avocados are rich in potassium, niacin, folate, essential fatty acids and other nutrients that are needed to promote healthy skin and coat for your pet. Avocados are also great for your pet’s over all health. Who knew Avocados could be so healthy for pets.

According to the AvoDerm website they have been adding Avocado meat and oils to their pet foods for over 30 years. Millions of cats and dogs all over the world have enjoyed their products and no pet owner has reported any adverse reactions to the Avocados used in making the food. That is great to hear because that is something I would worry about, especially with Espn because he has such a sensitive stomach.

If you would like to learn more visit the Why Avocados? page on the AvoDerm website.

Can a pet food really do that for my pet? I’m going to find out. I am taking AvoDerm up on their challenge. For the next six weeks I’ll be feeding Espn AvoDerm canned and dry foods. After the six weeks I’m going to see if I notice a change (improvement) in his coat. I’ll report my findings in another blog post.

If you sign up to take the challenge with your pet, AvoDerm will give you a $5.00 off coupon you can use towards a bag of AvoDerm dry food. All you need to do is enter your first and last name, zip code, email address and pet’s name.

In addition, if you complete the challenge you’ll also be entered to win a year’s supply of AvoDerm pet foods for your dog or cat. I would love to win that prize! What pet owner wouldn’t want a year’s worth of FREE food for their pet.

I’ve already started Espn on the AvoDerm foods. AvoDerm sent me some dry and canned foods for Espn. We have to slowly ease him into the canned food (he has a sensitive stomach). So far he’s loving the dry food. He tends to be very picky when it comes to food so if he gobbles up a bowl of dry food that tells us that he really likes it.

AvoDerm has a special schedule they recommend if you want to introduce new foods to your pet. If you simply swap out their regular food with a new food you can cause an upset stomach, vomiting and/or diarrhea. This applies to any food, dogs and cats.

It’s too soon to tell if there is any difference in his coat. It’s only been a couple of days. Look for an update post in about a month from now.

To get you started on helping your beloved dog or cat get a shinier, healthier coat, AvoDerm would like to give a lucky She Scribes reader a $50.00 gift card and a four pound bag of the winner’s choice of either dog food or cat food. Thank you AvoDerm.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on May 26, 2013 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have three days to reply or a new winner will be chosen in their place.

To enter please leave a comment on this post and tell me how you keep your dog or cat’s coat (fur) healthy? Do you feed them special food, use a special shampoo, brush them frequently? Whatever you do to keep their coat healthy leave a comment and let me know. Or if you never gave your pet’s coat much thought let me know why you want to win the AvoDerm giveaway?

For extra entries you can use the Rafflecopter widget (below) but you must complete the initial entry requirement or the additional entries won’t qualify. Extra entries are optiona.

I brush Mags hair every day but she doesn’t get bathed very often because her skin tends to be dry. Since she’s not really an “outside” dog, she really doesn’t need it that often (short hair chihuahua)